Rose Dawn
by Water Singer
Summary: A young Plainsdweller mare comes to join Queen Tek's dwindled herd


Pronunciation-Pronounce Achiera Ah-he-era  
  
ROSE DAWN  
  
Chapter One: Plainsdweller  
  
The Moondance swung slowly about in a ring, looking from above like a never- ending circle. Achiera watched with interest from the top of the hill she now stood on. She knew the Moondancers were rumoured to be accepting Plainsdwellers into their Ring now that they had regained their ancestral home in the Hallow Hills. She also knew they would not be pleased if she were to interrupt their ceremony. Even if the Battle-Prince Jan had Plainsdweller sire he and his mate were yet bound by the rules of their Ring, foolish though some of those rules might be.  
  
The herd's chanting and singing below her had finally died and she could see the unicorns lying down in a great Circle to hear the Singer's Lay. Achiera too laid down, pricking her ears to hear the far away stallion's chanting. Somewhere through the tale she fell asleep, her head resting on her outstretched forelegs.  
  
The singing of birds and the bright sun woke her the next morning, and she took a moment to stretch indolently before forcing herself up and cantering down the hillside. Many of the Moondancers were already up and about, and those who passed her nickered greetings which she returned. If they recognized her as a Renegade, they made no comment of it, a small thing that she was grateful for. She found Queen Tek grazing on a hillside not far from where she had spent the night, her two foals beside her. They were nearing three years, weaned but not yet half-grown and so would keep near to their mother for the next year. Achiera knew that the Ringdancers had their children sup of the Mirrormere in their fifth year and then considered them half-grown, unlike the Plainsdwellers who were considered so when they could set out on their own.  
  
"Hail, Plainsdweller," the pied Queen trumpeted, raising her head to look directly at the young mare. Achiera shook her black mane in amusement at the Queen's easy acceptance of her presence and bowed, bending one knee and lowering her head.  
  
"Hail, Great Queen. I have journeyed from afar to join your herd, for my mother was once one of you and has told me many tales." She knew that her manner of speech set her apart as a Plainsdweller, but she had still picked up quite a bit from her mother and used what she did know now. The Queen tilted her head in querying amusement at her politeness but did not comment.  
  
"And why would one of the Free People choose to live bound by the Ring? I well know that most of your kin have the Mare's Back in their hearts."  
  
"Aye," Achiera acknowledged, "but even as there are those of your Ring that love our freedom, there are those of us who need your restriction." The Queen bobbed her horn slightly, the sun gleaming off its length. The jet patches on her rose coat looked faintly blue where the sun reflected. The midsummer sun warmed the younger mare below her red-brown coat, loosening her muscles. Suddenly the Queen tilted her head to the side, her nostrils widening slightly.  
  
For a moment, young Plainsdweller, I could have sworn you were my dam. Your colourations are remarkably similar." The black and silver filly beside her whickered softly, serious brown eyes fixed on Achiera. The white colt beside her also had eyes fixed on the young mare, and she almost shied away at their blueness, like that of the sky above her. The colt looked up at his dam and nudged her.  
  
"Yes, Dhattar?" Queen Tek said, glancing down.  
  
"She is the one we saw coming, not Granddam. The magicker. She doesn't know it yet, or least didn't before now." Queen Tek snorted in surprise and threw up her head, eying Achiera. The young mare herself was shocked, her eyes rolling slightly in surprise. The two weanlings were the calm ones, eyes shifting between their dam and the young Plainsdweller.  
  
"Nay, verily the young have misunderstood, I am no magicker. Never have any of my kin had any such power, that I am sure of," Achiera protested, falling back into her natural manner of speaking. The Queen merely regarded her then turned to look at her progeny.  
  
"Can you be sure of this?" she asked. The twins looked at each other for a moment then back at their dam.  
  
"Nothing in dreams is ever certain," Aiony, the filly, said. "Granddam will be here within the moon. She will be able to tell more clearly than we." The Queen nodded.  
  
"Aye, she will know." Achiera took a deep breath. She would meet Jah- lila, the Red Mare. 


End file.
